New
Report Details Benefits of Pesticide-Free Parks(Beyond
Pesticides, November 11, 2005) Park
managers across the country are establishing pesticide-free parks and
finding that they are an innovative and effective way to improve parks
and make them into healthy models for their communities. A new report
by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) shows
the many reasons why pesticide-free parks benefit communities.

"Pesticide-free
parks can be important models for the rest of the community,”
said Megan Kemple, NCAP's pesticide-free parks coordinator. “They
demonstrate to families and businesses how to manage pest problems in
a way that is healthy for both people and the environment.”

The report, Pesticide-free
Parks: It's Time!, focuses on Lane County, OR, but offers advice
that all communities can use. NCAP highlights the problems that recent
research has linked to pesticide use:

Pesticides cause
special problems for children. Children are both more exposed to pesticides
and more susceptible to their effects. Leading pediatricians recommend
protecting children from exposure to pesticides.

Pesticides poison
30,000 pets a year, and also increase the risk of serious pet illnesses
such as cancer.

People who apply
pesticides are at risk for health problems like depression, vision
problems, cancer, and breathing difficulties.

Tiny amounts
of pesticides can harm the wildlife that share our parks.

Pesticides often
pollute our air, rivers, and streams. In the Willamette River basin,
over 90 percent of the samples tested by a government agency were
contaminated with at least one pesticide.

"Over two hundred million pounds of pesticides that cause these
kinds of problems are used every year in urban areas," says Kemple.
The parks, she notes, also showcase the many other tools besides toxic
chemicals that are available.